I don’t like the response from chris, it doesn’t alleviate the concern of adding extra stats to legendaries and creating a new set of gear to grind in order to be competitive or even “finish” this new content you are adding. I hope they see the enormous feedback about not wanting a more progressive stat grind. We want quality content that is FUN not added content to give us more chores.

Right now pvp is lacking a matchmaking system based on “skill”. Most players can only spvp so many days in a row with the same formats before they get bored.

PvE in this game is a dungeon farm at 80. It lacks epic fun events that are rewarding. But there are great events in the game and a great structure to build upon.

My group was having a lot of fun doing dungeons to grab different sets of gear for different builds and playing wvw. That was with the hope it would be soon over and we could spend all day wvw and spvp. So now you are adding another tier of gear upsetting the balance with legendaries AND going back on your founding principles!

It is hard to ever think about even bothering to PvE in gw2 ever again with the distaste and distrust you establish with this change.

My guild started out as 15-20 people. Now it is 8 loyal players, with this change only 1 is happy out of 8. The other 7 no longer want to PvE and are bored of PvP awaiting a matchmaking system. (look at league it has a great one)

There’s still a cap, it’s just at a different number now, and if they actually keep their promise it’ll stay that way.

But what was the point of that increase in gap? was it really needed? And if so, why?

Many of us see this as a starting point of treadmill, because there was just no tangible reason why they had to attach that +8% to ascended gear…well other than accustom us for upcoming ger upgrades aguess…

Calm down. You are all making wild assumptions and accusations with literally zero basis.

Needing ascended gear to do anything in Fractals? No evidence that this is the case.

Taking a break and coming back to find you can’t do anything because gear is outdated? No evidence this will be the case.

Ascended Armor being more powerful than Exotics? No evidence that this is the case. Because if it’s going to work like the accessories, then you can’t put runes on them and there are stats on runes that are simply miles ahead of a few extra raw stat points.

Gated content? No evidence this will be the case.

I like wild conjecture as much as the next guy but you guys are being some of the most whiny, self-entitled and generally unpleasant people I have ever seen on any MMO forum. By all means continue battering the developers that are giving you all of this content for free.

ANet please don’t listen to these idiots and do whatever you want because contrary to popular belief, this is your game and it doesn’t belong to these ridiculous whiners.

Because if it’s going to work like the accessories, then you can’t put runes on them and there are stats on runes that are simply miles ahead of a few extra raw stat points.

Yeah sure accessories have a negligible higher amount of stats, not game breaking. If the Armor works like the accessories in that picture, there will be no runes on said armor and Runes are way better than those few extra stat points.

…wat.

If armor works as the accessories do, then they will still be better since the stat bonuses will be baked into the items, just like they are for the rings. At worst, you’ll lose the “% chance to do X” bonuses, if even that.

Yes because +X% Boon Duration, +X% Condition Duration, health regen, shouts removing conditions… All of those are so worthless right?

I think a lot of people will have vastly different definitions of grinding.

I would define it as:

Doing something you don’t particularly enjoy, repeatedly, to get to something you actually want to do.

For myself, getting any full set of any dungeon gear would be a “grind”, because while I can appreciate the dungeons once or twice, I do not find the GW2 dungeons all that fun, and other than my very first run in AC at the appropriate level (in a full pug that lost a person after the 1st boss, and finished it with 4 people – none of us having done the dungeon before) I don’t find them particularly challenging, either. I will admit I haven’t done all of them, though.

I do like the IDEA of no trinity, but I have found that GW2 doesn’t execute well in the 5 man dungeons, so I don’t do them.

So if, in the future, there is content added that I would LIKE to do, but the community (or my gear) prevents me from doing that content (because I haven’t grinded out a full set of Ascended gear), then I will either be compelled to GRIND out that gear, or not do content I want to do.

Another example would be crafting. I have 4 skills at 400, and I had to “grind” mobs to cap each one, because I did not get enough mats leveling along the way on my 2 80’s. I had to find the right mob for the drop I wanted, buff up my magic find, and grind away mindlessly for drops (hitting DR along the way a couple times).

Crafting was not something I needed to do, but something I wanted to do, so the grind was by choice. But it was not fun.

Legendary weapons are an insane grind. They are also not at all required, so it’s a grind that you choose to do.

From what I can tell (from what limited info Anet has released on Ascended gear), they WILL be a grind that, in some way, will be a requirement for nearly everyone.

I say requirement because, given how people act in all MMOs, at some point content will be out that is group only content, and group formers will “require” members to be Ascended. That’s just how people are. It’s annoying to pretty much everyone, but, in general, people don’t like to carry total strangers.

Also, for those competitive in PvP, unless there’s an equally quick (or slow) way to acquire this gear via PvP, they will be forced (unless they are ok with being undergeared) to grind out these pieces that they otherwise have no desire at all to get.

Also, Anet’s only past dabble with gear gating was changed (how fast after Infused was released, I don’t know) to avoid the “grind” of Infusing your gear. It is/was an annoying gating mechanism in GW1, and Ascended gear is/will be an annoying gating mechanism in GW2. But it will come with the added bonus of also boosting your Gear Score – which Infusing didn’t do.

It’s a double treadmill – in a game that says it doesn’t want any treadmills, because even in situations where there is no Agony, Ascended gear is still going to be better than Exotic gear, and where there IS Agony, Exotic gear will be near worthless.

There’s still a cap, it’s just at a different number now, and if they actually keep their promise it’ll stay that way.

But what was the point of that increase in gap? was it really needed? And if so, why?

Many of us see this as a starting point of treadmill, because there was just no tangible reason why they had to attach that +8% to ascended gear…well other than accustom us for upcoming ger upgrades aguess…

It wasn’t needed, a new rarity wasn’t needed actually.
It just isn’t nearly as big as deal as people are making it out to be.

The problem is the exotics are easily had, everybody has said it…“its easy to get exotics in 1-2 days of getting 80”, so there was nothing to work for once you got to 80. Exotics SHOULD have been the starter set for 80’s and the ascended the next step…alas it was not.

“Everybody?”

“work for?”

I don’t play games to “work”. I play them to have fun. Nor am I (and many others in this thread) among those who complain about “nothing to do.” Simply playing the game is quite entertaining for MANY of us.

I don’t need “progression” to enjoy a game.

That said, I have nothing against providing progression for people who want it; but don’t force the rest of us into a gear treadmill (or be locked out of content).

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

I’d like to respond to concerns players have raised about ascended items. Please keep in mind that we’re releasing this as one portion of a massive November update that introduces and improves many aspects of challenge, progression, and rewards. With this and upcoming updates, we view ourselves as introducing large amounts of content with supporting systems and features, akin to an expansion pack, building on Guild Wars 2 through a series of live releases. So it’s important for us to be able to add an expansion pack’s worth of progression and rewards to support that content.

Our goal is not to create a gear treadmill. Our goal is to ensure we have a proper progression for players from exotic up to legendary without a massive jump in reward between the two. We will slowly add the remaining ascended gear items and legendary items in future updates to allow people time to acquire them as we add exciting new content that deserves exciting rewards. We will not be adding a new tier of gear every 3 months that we expect everyone to chase after and then get the next set and so on.

Ascended and infusion rewards will be available in both PvE and WvW over time, and be made available through all sorts of content around the world including existing content. PvP will remain unaffected to ensure our intended PvP balance going forward. We are also working on other reward and progression systems for the game that tie into current and new content and features. As you know we care very much about your support and opinion and are listening intently to what you say.

Finally we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the upcoming content, and we will ensure we share our thoughts with you on the experiences we share in the Lost Shores.

Chris Whiteside – Studio Design Director

Thanks now I feel guilty for complaining all over the forums! >.< Don’t worry we only complain so much because you guys made an awesome game and we don’t want to see it ruined. Thanks for the response, look forward to seeing all the new content. I’m hopeful you guys do indeed avoid the gear treadmill with all these future updates and we can all continue having fun in GW2.

There’s still a cap, it’s just at a different number now, and if they actually keep their promise it’ll stay that way.

But what was the point of that increase in gap? was it really needed? And if so, why?

Many of us see this as a starting point of treadmill, because there was just no tangible reason why they had to attach that +8% to ascended gear…well other than accustom us for upcoming ger upgrades aguess…

It wasn’t needed, a new rarity wasn’t needed actually.
It just isn’t nearly as big as deal as people are making it out to be.

This is exactly the thing people are worried.

It wasn´t needed….why did they do something unnecessary? One logical conclusion is that they may be planning on adding even further tiers. This has us brandishing our pitchforks.

It’s always had gear grind, what do you think exotic is?
Again, if the new quality had never existed it’d be the same, you’d need exotics.

Through normal play you can probably earn half the amount you need before you even hit level 80. You can score an exotic just by playing for fun for a day. If you really want more, you can get one by grinding for 2 hours (or even less).

This allows you to play more than one character without kittening your “main.” It allows you to experiment with different weapons, builds, and gear sets… all with max gear.

That’s what I’ve always been saying.
Are you reading half of my posts?
As updates go along they won’t be giving them better stats, this is the same thing as exotic.

What part of “new rarity” and “better stats” are you not understanding? How exactly do you think that Ascended items, which are higher in rarity and item level, are going to be identical to exotics? That defeats the purpose entirely, and it’s not even close to what they said they were doing.

That’s what I’ve always been saying.
Are you reading half of my posts?
As updates go along they won’t be giving them better stats, this is the same thing as exotic.

What part of “new rarity” and “better stats” are you not understanding? How exactly do you think that Ascended items, which are higher in rarity and item level, are going to be identical to exotics? That defeats the purpose entirely, and it’s not even close to what they said they were doing.

I never said they were identical to exotics, I said they were a step up.

disappointed with chris’ response and the direction yall’ve chosen. youre getting less of my money (if any thanks to gold conversion) in the near future and less of my attention in the distant future. please stick to your manifesto.

So they took the GW1 infusion mechanic and use it as excuse to introduce the next tier stats for ascended armour. And according to the blog, this is only the beginning. I find this a very disappointing kneefall for the whining about wanting oldschool gear progression. A grind we were never supposed to see.
It doesn’t matter if the different tiers are just small steps in stats. Add enough tiers and you get a very big step as complete result.
Why not add a way to inspect gear on other players while you’re on it? I’m done with this company which I supported since GW1 release. They clearly have turned away from their manifesto.
Read the blog again : “In November we’ll unveil the first Ascended items. This new rarity type falls between Exotic and Legendary on the spectrum of rarity and has slightly HIGHER STATS than Exotics”
Just like with the dungeon armour they will come up with excuses to twist and turn their old statements, so I won’t try to argue anymore about this beyond this post. Totally lame move from Arenanet.

There’s still a cap, it’s just at a different number now, and if they actually keep their promise it’ll stay that way.

But what was the point of that increase in gap? was it really needed? And if so, why?

Many of us see this as a starting point of treadmill, because there was just no tangible reason why they had to attach that +8% to ascended gear…well other than accustom us for upcoming ger upgrades aguess…

It wasn’t needed, a new rarity wasn’t needed actually.
It just isn’t nearly as big as deal as people are making it out to be.

This is exactly the thing people are worried.

It wasn´t needed….why did they do something unnecessary? One logical conclusion is that they may be planning on adding even further tiers. This has us brandishing our pitchforks.

Yea but Chris Whiteside’s post said they don’t plan on doing that. They aren’t adding new gear every 3 months and don’t want to create a gear treadmill. Going along with the blog post by Linsey Murdock, in there it said they created Ascended items for the people that basically beat the game and were ready to start on the path to Legendaries – those people got to that point far faster than ANet anticipated. So to bridge that gap they created Ascended items (along with apparently a lot of other stuff in this new update).

From what I can tell it will stop there. That was all of our concerns here, was that it would continue. But personally I’m going to give Mr. Whiteside and the rest of ANet the benefit of the doubt here since he specifically just said that’s not what they’re doing and both his and Linsey’s messages both gel with what ANet has always told us. It’s an unexpected addition, but I can see why they did it. If they stick by their/his word, I think it’ll be fine.

You can do the new content with exotics.
That is not how the dungeons work.

It is true you can enter the new content with exotics. The problem comes from as you progress through the dungeon you will hit a wall no matter how good you are because you dont have ascended gear because of the new condition that enemies will cast on players. You cannot get far in the dungeon no matter how good you are without having grinding out gear ahead of time.

Calm down. You are all making wild assumptions and accusations with literally zero basis.

Needing ascended gear to do anything in Fractals? No evidence that this is the case.

Taking a break and coming back to find you can’t do anything because gear is outdated? No evidence this will be the case.

Ascended Armor being more powerful than Exotics? No evidence that this is the case. Because if it’s going to work like the accessories, then you can’t put runes on them and there are stats on runes that are simply miles ahead of a few extra raw stat points.

Gated content? No evidence this will be the case.

I like wild conjecture as much as the next guy but you guys are being some of the most whiny, self-entitled and generally unpleasant people I have ever seen on any MMO forum. By all means continue battering the developers that are giving you all of this content for free.

ANet please don’t listen to these idiots and do whatever you want because contrary to popular belief, this is your game and it doesn’t belong to these ridiculous whiners.

Although 2.75% is insignificant, dedicated players still feel a sense of progression and rewarded. The point is to feel like there isn’t a wall to progression. Some sense of progression is needed in every mmorpg. It needs to constantly evolve to keep player anticipated. If not, it’s the same as console game with an ending.

Casual players can stick to their exotic without worries. Majority casuals are still going to stick with exotic. Why are people worried about this? It’s not like you must have ascended to pvp in WvWvW or PVE. You can experience 100% fun content with exotic and it’s so easily acquired. Gear treadmill forces you that you must have it and grind repetitively until you quit. Therefore, it’s not a gear treadmill. It’s a progression that’s optional for endgamers. The game musn’t only cater for casual players. It’s catering towards both casual and dedicated.

Players should experience the game first.
Who knows? The process of getting it isn’t like any traditional mmo grind.
I heard the new dungeon is pretty random and not the repetitive grind types.

It doesn’t hurt to give it a try. They made an effort for you.
Players should appreciate it.

GW2 was supposed to be different, a bastion of hope for those who wanted skill to be greater than gear. We held dearly to that Manifesto and so it was truely heaven…for a little while.

Now that has change and it will become just another direct competitor to a game that will crush GW2 just like it has done to every other clone out there over the past 8 or so years.

GW2 was unique and now it will not be. Such a sad turn of events.

And what is wrong with skill =/= gear? why can’t a dungeon require both? Its a bit selfish dont you think? Gives you a sense of completion and that sense that your character has gotten a tad stronger through his trials in the new area….. the gear is not a override to skill you still need great skill to get there. Your blindly making assumptions and cutting out one factor entirely for your argument.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

I would think it’s safe to assume that, if they are of a rarity between exotic and legendary, they will take an amount of time between those.

I have 2 80’s. Neither is fully decked out in exotics (I also was one of those that suffered from severe eye-strain headaches from the FOV this game launched with, so until the beta FOV fix came out, I had pretty much stopped playing – to give you a sort of idea of how much time I spent playing from mid-Sept until that FOV fix came out).

So, in 2 months of, at first, a LOT of play time, followed by a dramatic drop-off, I have 2 50% exotic characters, or the equivalent of 1 (my exotics are all crafted or karma gear – because I have not found a dungeon in GW2 that I actually WANT to do repeatedly – nor any dungeon skins that look good enough for me to suffer through that grind).

That tells me that at my play rate, to fully deck out one of those characters in Ascended will take over 2 months, and I would assume something closer (for me and my play rate) of 4 months.

Also, if these are, at first, ONLY available via dungeons, that will put me back further, because I don’t find the dungeons in GW2 particularly fun. I enjoy WvW, crafting, and roaming the world (anywhere but Orr).

It doesn’t seem like that is the playstyle that is on the path to “end game” here in GW2.

And as time goes on, depending on the community and how it develops, there may be an elitism develop amongst the player base that you MUST have this gear.

Also, apart from Infusing gear, GW1 is a game that you can step away from for YEARS and come back to and not be undergeared. Ascended gear having better stats doesn’t make it seem like GW2 is going to be the same.

That’s a shame, and contrary to their Manifesto and all the pre-release quotes and such – not that uncommon for MANY game developers nowadays, though.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

Legendary currently do not have better stats then exotics. With the new ascended upgrade, they will now have a stats increase.

So there was no stats grind, or no need to grind legendaries for stats. Now there is a need to grind ascended, that Anet introduced by themselves, as they are just better. The point is not by how many percent, the point is that they are better.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

Legendary right now is on-par with Exotic. They are going to increase the stats of Legendary to match ascended based on these changes (when the Ascended items get patched in – not necessarily this patch).

So basically they are adding a new tier of gear after Exotic – there is no “in-between” exotic and legendary as currently exotic = legendary (in stats) and after the patch (which adds ascended weapons) ascended = legendary.

BTW, it’s complete BS, especially for the WvW community. It was said earlier – just make everyone in WvW EQUAL – same as in sPVP and they can do whatever the kittening kitten they want with PvE.

There’s still a cap, it’s just at a different number now, and if they actually keep their promise it’ll stay that way.

But what was the point of that increase in gap? was it really needed? And if so, why?

Many of us see this as a starting point of treadmill, because there was just no tangible reason why they had to attach that +8% to ascended gear…well other than accustom us for upcoming ger upgrades aguess…

It wasn’t needed, a new rarity wasn’t needed actually.
It just isn’t nearly as big as deal as people are making it out to be.

This is exactly the thing people are worried.

It wasn´t needed….why did they do something unnecessary? One logical conclusion is that they may be planning on adding even further tiers. This has us brandishing our pitchforks.

Yea but Chris Whiteside’s post said they don’t plan on doing that. They aren’t adding new gear every 3 months and don’t want to create a gear treadmill. Going along with the blog post by Linsey Murdock, in there it said they created Ascended items for the people that basically beat the game and were ready to start on the path to Legendaries – those people got to that point far faster than ANet anticipated. So to bridge that gap they created Ascended items (along with apparently a lot of other stuff in this new update).

From what I can tell it will stop there. That was all of our concerns here, was that it would continue. But personally I’m going to give Mr. Whiteside and the rest of ANet the benefit of the doubt here since he specifically just said that’s not what they’re doing and both his and Linsey’s messages both gel with what ANet has always told us. It’s an unexpected addition, but I can see why they did it. If they stick by their/his word, I think it’ll be fine.

Even if they don´t continue it, adding another tier of stats was a terrible idea on top of that it wasn´t needed for anything.

2. You don’t understand WvW/PvP players. It could be 0.05% stronger for all we care. What matters is that it is stronger, and anything that isn’t the best isn’t good enough. If you feel like you’re representative of people who enjoy PvE progression and must speak out then by all means do so, but we’d appreciate it if you don’t pretend to speak for the PvPers as well.

And what is wrong with skill =/= gear? why can’t a dungeon require both? Its a bit selfish dont you think? Gives you a sense of completion and that sense that your character has gotten a tad stronger through his trials in the new area….. the gear is not a override to skill you still need great skill to get there. Your blindly making assumptions and cutting out one factor entirely for your argument.

I don’t care about dungeons, never have and never will. My end game is Wv3, this is where I have fun. But now they are upping the bar and making legendaries BiS with accompanied better stats and damage; the proof is right there in that blog.

So much like that other game where in vanilla you had to raid to get gear to not be a free kill in PvP; GW2 is going the exact same route.

Right now I get beat it cus the other guy was better. With buffed legendaries it’s because of gear. This is the problem I have with it.

Keep ascended/legendaries out of Wv3 and I am ALL for this. You PvEers can have your carrot and I can have an even playing field in Wv3 vs other true 80s. This is all that matters to me. I don’t want to have to chase a legendary because I HAVE to so I can be competive. I don’t have 900-2k gold to throw around and be the ‘best’. This is essentially pay to win just like all those other F2P games. This makes me a tad upset.

Calm down. You are all making wild assumptions and accusations with literally zero basis.

Needing ascended gear to do anything in Fractals? No evidence that this is the case.

Taking a break and coming back to find you can’t do anything because gear is outdated? No evidence this will be the case.

Ascended Armor being more powerful than Exotics? No evidence that this is the case. Because if it’s going to work like the accessories, then you can’t put runes on them and there are stats on runes that are simply miles ahead of a few extra raw stat points.

Gated content? No evidence this will be the case.

I like wild conjecture as much as the next guy but you guys are being some of the most whiny, self-entitled and generally unpleasant people I have ever seen on any MMO forum. By all means continue battering the developers that are giving you all of this content for free.

ANet please don’t listen to these idiots and do whatever you want because contrary to popular belief, this is your game and it doesn’t belong to these ridiculous whiners.

Although 2.75% is insignificant, dedicated players still feel a sense of progression and rewarded. The point is to feel like there isn’t a wall to progression. Some sense of progression is needed in every mmorpg. It needs to constantly evolve to keep player anticipated. If not, it’s the same as console game with an ending.

Casual players can stick to their exotic without worries. Majority casuals are still going to stick with exotic. Why are people worried about this? It’s not like you must have ascended to pvp in WvWvW or PVE. You can experience 100% fun content with exotic and it’s so easily acquired. Gear treadmill forces you that you must have it and grind repetitively until you quit. Therefore, it’s not a gear treadmill. It’s a progression that’s optional for endgamers. The game musn’t only cater for casual players. It’s catering towards both casual and dedicated.

Players should experience the game first.
Who knows? The process of getting it isn’t like any traditional mmo grind.
I heard the new dungeon is pretty random and not the repetitive grind types.

It doesn’t hurt to give it a try. They made an effort for you.
Players should appreciate it.

100 over pages of complaints <<< GW2 players already had bad experiences with other MMOs, 100 over pages of complaints must mean some kitten.

Casual players can stick to their exotic without worries <<< Be prepared to die alot more in dungeon or be kicked out of ‘non-casual’ groups.

Majority casuals are still going to stick with exotic <<< Some still stick with masterwork accessories because exotic accessories = EXPENSIVE.

Why are people worried about this? It’s not like you must have ascended to pvp in WvWvW or PVE <<< You need to be ascended in order to Enjoy the full Content.

You can experience 100% fun content with exotic and it’s so easily acquired <<< Exotics can’t be infused, so you are GATED.

Gear treadmill forces you that you must have it and grind repetitively until you quit.
Therefore, it’s not a gear treadmill. It’s a progression that’s optional for end-gamers. <<< Today’s end-game equips is tomorrow’s obsolete equips, this is gear treadmill

The game musn’t only cater for casual players. It’s catering towards both casual and dedicated <<< Dedicated players also roleplay, socialise etc. Ascended equipments segregate the community between “POWER HUNGRY” games and those not power hungry, this is what hurts other MMOs.

Ugh! Beyond frustrated by this. I’m a PvP/WvW oriented player. I’ve played other MMO’s in the past where it was all about who had the better gear rather than individual skill. This forced me to run dungeons I had absolutely no interest in just so that I could stay competitive in PvP.

One of the main draws with Guild Wars is that every level 80 has access to the same gear. Crafted, Karma, Dungeon, badges…. all have the same stats. The only difference being aesthetics and personal choice. This in my opinion is what sets Guild Wars apart from other MMO’s.

If I’m forced to play content I have absolutely no interest in, just to be able to compete in the content I actually do want to participate in… Well, let’s just say it was fun while it lasted. I refuse to go down that road again. Been there, done that.

If you do go through with this decision, please make sure to make the gear accessible to both the PvE/PvP player base. Some of us actually prefer fighting other players rather than NPC Bosses. =P

You can do the new content with exotics.
That is not how the dungeons work.

It is true you can enter the new content with exotics. The problem comes from as you progress through the dungeon you will hit a wall no matter how good you are because you dont have ascended gear because of the new condition that enemies will cast on players. You cannot get far in the dungeon no matter how good you are without having grinding out gear ahead of time.

Whats wrong with that? Every hero needs a mighty weapon to fight against whatever evil they are trying defeat. You obtain the gear in the dungeon from what I understand…. so you get it as you progress, no?

I think people should hold off on the OMFG this is a gear treadmill, drama queen freak outs till its actually here.

Calm down. You are all making wild assumptions and accusations with literally zero basis.

Needing ascended gear to do anything in Fractals? No evidence that this is the case.

Taking a break and coming back to find you can’t do anything because gear is outdated? No evidence this will be the case.

Ascended Armor being more powerful than Exotics? No evidence that this is the case. Because if it’s going to work like the accessories, then you can’t put runes on them and there are stats on runes that are simply miles ahead of a few extra raw stat points.

Gated content? No evidence this will be the case.

I like wild conjecture as much as the next guy but you guys are being some of the most whiny, self-entitled and generally unpleasant people I have ever seen on any MMO forum. By all means continue battering the developers that are giving you all of this content for free.

ANet please don’t listen to these idiots and do whatever you want because contrary to popular belief, this is your game and it doesn’t belong to these ridiculous whiners.

Although 2.75% is insignificant, dedicated players still feel a sense of progression and rewarded. The point is to feel like there isn’t a wall to progression. Some sense of progression is needed in every mmorpg. It needs to constantly evolve to keep player anticipated. If not, it’s the same as console game with an ending.

Casual players can stick to their exotic without worries. Majority casuals are still going to stick with exotic. Why are people worried about this? It’s not like you must have ascended to pvp in WvWvW or PVE. You can experience 100% fun content with exotic and it’s so easily acquired. Gear treadmill forces you that you must have it and grind repetitively until you quit. Therefore, it’s not a gear treadmill. It’s a progression that’s optional for endgamers. The game musn’t only cater for casual players. It’s catering towards both casual and dedicated.

Players should experience the game first.
Who knows? The process of getting it isn’t like any traditional mmo grind.
I heard the new dungeon is pretty random and not the repetitive grind types.

It doesn’t hurt to give it a try. They made an effort for you.
Players should appreciate it.

That only for 1 stat. There are 3 stats. So 2.75%x3? I know it is small but even a small % can mean a life of death situation. 1% can determine you fail or pass a test also.

So, people cry because cannot get a prelegendary, they add 10% magic find item for make u more easy the work, now people cry because that item is op, rofl, that ascended ring its a kitten because magic find its not usefull in dungeon, so u got 5 more power and precision but u lost vitality or cri dmg for example that could got an exotic ring.

Im sure that many of u people cryed for prelegendary drop, anet listen ur cry, they said that they will start to make more accesible for all, well with new patch u will got a 6% more for got a chance.

Im worried about all inmature and brainless people who play this game and cannot see what anet do.

There is so much wrong here that I don’t even know where to start. Do you honestly think that is the only new item in the game? Don’t you think there will be other “stat combinations” that don’t include Magic Find? Do you know that getting a “pre-legendary” has absolutely nothing to do with Magic Find?

I worry for the the state of the game when the defenders of the changes have no idea what the changes mean.

So, people cry because cannot get a prelegendary, they add 10% magic find item for make u more easy the work, now people cry because that item is op, rofl, that ascended ring its a kitten because magic find its not usefull in dungeon, so u got 5 more power and precision but u lost vitality or cri dmg for example that could got an exotic ring.

Im sure that many of u people cryed for prelegendary drop, anet listen ur cry, they said that they will start to make more accesible for all, well with new patch u will got a 6% more for got a chance.

Im worried about all inmature and brainless people who play this game and cannot see what anet do.

Legendaries will be pumped to ascneded level.

Do you seriously think they make all legendaries have magic find stats?

Or for that matter do you really think ascended sets only have magicfind stats?

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

This nothing but this i dont see why people cant understand this

Currently there is no “progression” from exotic to legendary. They have the same stats. The only “reward” is aesthetic.

Now with Ascended gear, you have to grind for them, as their “rewards” are not only aesthetic but also have stat progression from exotics.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

Legendary right now is on-par with Exotic. They are going to increase the stats of Legendary to match ascended based on these changes (when the Ascended items get patched in – not necessarily this patch).

So basically they are adding a new tier of gear after Exotic – there is no “in-between” exotic and legendary as currently exotic = legendary (in stats) and after the patch (which adds ascended weapons) ascended = legendary.

BTW, it’s complete BS, especially for the WvW community. It was said earlier – just make everyone in WvW EQUAL – same as in sPVP and they can do whatever the kittening kitten they want with PvE.

Well thats fine, I have no problem with wvwvw being like spvp…. but again what is the reward?

But pve wise, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t want to see their character grow…. no matter how small the amount is. New skins are cool but really its just more of the same after a few expansions. Same skills, same everything. Not sure how people cant consider that anymore or less boring.

Nor do I understand the argument about a gear grind….. when HELLO your doing the same thing if it were just a skin…. I mean comon folks pull your heads out!

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

This nothing but this i dont see why people cant understand this

Again, legendary stats are the same as exotic. do you ‘defenders’ of this change, who are so ‘bored’ with GW2, actually play the game?

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

This nothing but this i dont see why people cant understand this

Currently there is no “progression” from exotic to legendary. They have the same stats. The only “reward” is aesthetic.

Now with Ascended gear, you have to grind for them, as their “rewards” are not only aesthetic but also have stat increase.

They are creating a stat gap between exotic and legendary with ascend being in the middle…… at least thats how it reads in the announcement made by Chris.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

Legendary right now is on-par with Exotic. They are going to increase the stats of Legendary to match ascended based on these changes (when the Ascended items get patched in – not necessarily this patch).

So basically they are adding a new tier of gear after Exotic – there is no “in-between” exotic and legendary as currently exotic = legendary (in stats) and after the patch (which adds ascended weapons) ascended = legendary.

BTW, it’s complete BS, especially for the WvW community. It was said earlier – just make everyone in WvW EQUAL – same as in sPVP and they can do whatever the kittening kitten they want with PvE.

Well thats fine, I have no problem with wvwvw being like spvp…. but again what is the reward?

But pve wise, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t want to see their character grow…. no matter how small the amount is. New skins are cool but really its just more of the same after a few expansions. Same skills, same everything. Not sure how people cant consider that anymore or less boring.

Nor do I understand the argument about a gear grind….. when HELLO your doing the same thing if it were just a skin…. I mean comon folks pull your heads out!

The reward WAS playing the game and knowing you were fighting against people that were on-par with you gear wise and what it came down to was build & skill. Not ONE PVPer I’ve met WANTS to PVE to compete in PVP. It’s like the biggest outcry I always here in these games.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

This nothing but this i dont see why people cant understand this

I don’t understand how you don’t seem to grasp the concept of a gear treadmill. The fact that Ascended items are not the best, and there will be further tiers is exactly what a gear treadmill is. Endlessly running in place trying to catch up to the highest level. The argument isn’t debunked. It is confirmed without doubt.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

This nothing but this i dont see why people cant understand this

You do know that currently there is no gap in stats between an exotic and legendary right? And if talking about the time/resource gap, see Jormag’s Breath/Foefire’s Power and other special skin weapons.

@above
At launch we will only have ring and back items, they’re going to add the rest of the slots as they go.

are you serious? did you not even read what Ascended items are? go read the release adn then come back. turn the lights on, and maybe have your browser turned to font 40. it’s in plain as day english, ascended stats are better than Exotic. no if, ands, or buts. They’ve even stated that it’s a new tier, and will make existing content easier for you! (meaning it’ll be a big increase on your character’s performance). Not to mention, it has alot of +magic find, which is the highest rated stat.

It’s the start of the never ending god kitten treadmill. they want to be like WoW for whatever reason despite having success with their original design.

And legendary stats are better then ascended which is also better then exotics? What is your point? Your already grinding for legendary… they are just adding a inbetween gear…. it won’t be the best in the game. Therefore the whole argument about a gear treadmill is totally debunked.

This nothing but this i dont see why people cant understand this

Again, legendary stats are the same as exotic. do you ‘defenders’ of this change, who are so ‘bored’ with GW2, actually play the game?

Did you actually read and understand what Chris was implying? With saying there is going to be an intermidate between the two? Logic says that if exotic is below ascend and legendary is above ascend then clearly legendary will have boosted stats over ascend……

It doesn’t make much sense to have ascend gear have higher stats than exotic but legendary lower then ascend now does it?

Wow, to think that people are complaining this much about a new tier or armor, what about when they raise the level cap and you gotta get it all again. Hahaha, it’s a game, deal with it. Arenanet aren’t stupid, and I like this idea.

So, people cry because cannot get a prelegendary, they add 10% magic find item for make u more easy the work, now people cry because that item is op, rofl, that ascended ring its a kitten because magic find its not usefull in dungeon, so u got 5 more power and precision but u lost vitality or cri dmg for example that could got an exotic ring.

Im sure that many of u people cryed for prelegendary drop, anet listen ur cry, they said that they will start to make more accesible for all, well with new patch u will got a 6% more for got a chance.

Im worried about all inmature and brainless people who play this game and cannot see what anet do.

Legendaries will be pumped to ascneded level.

Do you seriously think they make all legendaries have magic find stats?

Or for that matter do you really think ascended sets only have magicfind stats?

seriusly u think that 5 more stats on each item will let u kill giganticus (for example) by one hit? if u are armless u will still diying, and if you know how to play maybe saves u 20 secs of boss fight time.

You can do the new content with exotics.
That is not how the dungeons work.

It is true you can enter the new content with exotics. The problem comes from as you progress through the dungeon you will hit a wall no matter how good you are because you dont have ascended gear because of the new condition that enemies will cast on players. You cannot get far in the dungeon no matter how good you are without having grinding out gear ahead of time.

I do not feel you will have to grind out gear prior to running the new dungeon. It is very likely that doing the dungeon will be the most effective (But not only) way to obtain the ascended loot. Remember, the new dungeon never ends. It just continues to get harder as you progress, with rewards being awarded along the way.

I take this to mean that it will likely be a gradual increase of difficulty / agony rather than a wall. Just my thoughts.

(I swear, sometimes when I reply…it posts just my quote and not my message. Then I get an infraction, which is not cool.)